September 25, 2017

Trump And 'Little Rocket Man'

WASHINGTON — When President Trump gave a fiery campaign speech in Huntsville, Ala., on Friday evening, he drew a rapturous roar by ridiculing Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, as “Little Rocket Man.”

Among diplomats and national security specialists, the reaction was decidedly different. After Mr. Trump repeated his taunt in a tweet late Saturday and threatened that Mr. Kim and his foreign minister “won’t be around much longer” if they continue their invective against the United States, reactions ranged from nervous disbelief to sheer terror.

Mr. Trump’s willingness to casually threaten to annihilate a nuclear-armed foe was yet another reminder of the steep risks inherent in his brute-force approach to diplomacy. His strengths as a politician — the ability to appeal in a visceral way to the impulses of ordinary citizens — are a difficult fit for the meticulous calculations that his own advisers concede are crucial in dealing with Pyongyang.

Yeah, this is not normal diplomacy:

The disconnect has led to a deep uncertainty about whether Mr. Trump is all talk or actually intends to act. The ambiguity could be strategic, part of an effort to intimidate Mr. Kim and keep him guessing. Or it could reflect a rash impulse by a leader with little foreign policy experience to vent his anger and stoke his supporters’ enthusiasm.

His new chief of staff and his national security team have drawn a line at trying to rein in his more incendiary provocations, fearing that their efforts could backfire with a president who bridles at any effort to control him. What remains unclear — and the source of much of the anxiety in and out of the government and on both sides of the Pacific — is whether they would step in to prevent the president from taking the kind of drastic action that matches his words, if they believed it was imminent.

Oh for heaven's sake - they won't be going full speed ahead on a random order to attack North Korea. That said, if the Fat Boy decides he needs to emphasize some point by attacking, e.g, Guam, then we will be put in a corner.

Veterans of diplomacy and national security and specialists on North Korea fear that, whatever their intended result, Mr. Trump’s increasingly bellicose threats and public insults of the famously thin-skinned Mr. Kim could cause the United States to careen into a nuclear confrontation driven by personal animosity and bravado.

“It does matter, because you don’t want to get to a situation where North Korea fundamentally miscalculates that an attack is coming,” said Sue Mi Terry, a former intelligence and National Security Council specialist who is now a senior adviser for Korea at Bower Group Asia. “It could lead us to stumble into a war that nobody wants.”

As an aside, please tell me that "Sue Me" Terry trained as a lawyer. Darn it! Evidently her name was not her destiny.

As to how this game seems to be playing out, Trump's rhetoric (and the escalating verbal war it has provoked) has created risks and opportunities for the many players staring at this corner of the global board.

For the US, it may convince the Chinese that the situation is so dire that they need to bring North Korea to heel, perhaps by way of regime change. That could be a win for the US.

On the other hand, China can go in a couple of directions. They want a stable North Korea on their border unaligned with the West, so regime change might look like an attractive way to get there. They also would like to ease the US out of their part of the world, so the Chinese might imagine themselves encouraging Japan and South Korea to cooperate with China on other issues in exchange for a Chinese-led effort to de-fang or de-throne Kim Jong Un. If China can rebrand themselves as the force for calm and the US as the force for disruption they may achieve both stability and a reduced US influence in the Pacific; call that a win-win for them. I should add that in such a scenario Trump will claim credit for succeeding in the role of 'bad cop' so (after everybody's blood pressure has dropped back into the high normal range) he ought to be able to turn this into a US win as well.

And the Fat Boy? He benefits from the escalating rhetoric since he has an obvious opportunity to put (or keep) his country on a wartime footing and quash any internal opposition angling for outreach and accommodation with the West. Unity through fear of nuclear annihilation. In the longer run he presumably is looking for security guarantees rather than an opportunity to invade and occupy a demoralized South Korea. However, that has its own risk - if his security is assured, why is his country on a war footing and the people starving to maintain the military, hmm? In a sane world his actual martial ardor would be roughly zero, but this performance art lets him rally his generals and keep his captives on his side. The Fat Boy needs an enemy.

His new chief of staff and his national security team have drawn a line at trying to rein in his more incendiary provocations, fearing that their efforts could backfire with a president who bridles at any effort to control him.

There must be some quote attributed to these people. I wonder where it is?

On the fat boy getting a benefit by going on a war footing. That is expensive, and his cash and imports are cut off. When the generals get hungry (or more likely their troops get mutinous due to lack of food), he will be gone.

The reaction he got from the NFL players was the one he was looking for, so he could inflame the culture wars for his political benefit.

To a brave neutral like Sweden, Ireland and Appalled who let others fight the wars, just ending the war is all that matters even if it means surrender and subjugation.

To those of us who understand that culture is what supports or destroys pluralism, republicanism, freedom, real tolerance, free speech, and yeah, life [especially for the unborn] liberty and the pursuit of happiness [including property] it is wondrous that a weird orange haired dude is standing up and for once fighting that fight with us.

Yes, Iggy!
As for Korea, I'm not weighing in until top flight intel analyst Plame weighs in. (Oh, you say she's preparing to move and is busy? But she just "resigned" from Ploughshares so she has some free time.)

Those who call Obama an "illegal alien" need to watch their glass houses. "Lyin' Thread" does have a certain ring to it....

I think your point is that you never said you approved of Trump's tweets re the NFL. Truth is that I assumed you did -- was that a bad assumption -- something I shouldn't say I know? Or is my assumption correct.

Or you just going to sit on your "Liar" comment, cause that's more fun, even if it is kinda like, a lie.

Fox has a vested interest in nipping the idea of a boycott in the bud. I find the idea of owners who tolerated many of the thugs and over-the -top behavior of their players suddenly concerned about proper presidential decorum pretty ironic.

I'd be surprised if he gets out early with good time or parole. Sex offenders aren't normally paroled or let out early for any reason. No one wants to be held responsible for letting a skinner out early to offend again.

As much as I hate, hate, hate to admit it, I do like the way Trump has handled "Rocket Man". Nothing else has worked -- taunting the guy to show his utter ultimate impotence is about the only strategy left.

These would be the people that brought us to the position we find ourselves in currently: a corrupt sanctions regime which didn't prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and missiles in the first place.

The brilliance of Donald Trump on full display; first the blinkered state of mind of the most privileged Black Americans in America, who just happen to be part of the most privileged population of African descent on the planet:

Intoxicated with their own sense of self-righteousness today’s athlete-protesters look more like rich drunks spouting nonsense than responsible citizens seeking redress. And in doing so they have popped the sports bubble and reminded us that we should stop idolizing overprivileged millionaire Millennials who disrespect this country, her people, and her history. Millions of Americans have recoiled at the divisiveness brought into sports by people like Kaepernick and Curry. And for this we can thank them.

Bennett has sat during the national anthem during [Seattle Seahawks] games and raises a fist on the field after making plays in protest of the police.

Almost exactly a year ago, BOzo honored the two Mexico City 1968 Olympians famous for their raised fists protest on the medal stand. The two were frequent guests over the years at BOzo/Jeremiah Wright's church in Chicago. I bet we see more players raising fists on the sidelines soon.

NFL players and coaches knew there would be a price to pay, but they decided to do it anyway. That's why any boycott needs to last long enough that owners, coaches and the League itself take concrete actions to truly punish those who led these protests and to eliminate any others who might want to do the same in the future. It's way past time to send the message that this divisiveness and ungratefulness won't be tolerated any more.

Over in the UK they are having their own patriotism issue in sports. Should the England national football (soccer) team be allowed to wear the poppie symbol on their "kit" (uniform) during their international game against Germany on Remembrance Day in November.

[They celebrate Remembrance day or the end of WWI on the 11th of November which we celebrate as Veteran's Day].

Of course, the poppie is the national symbol both here and there for recognizing our fallen.

Actually, he was doing that, which was why that comment was a disgrace.

Hmmm. I don't seem to remember your being bothered by Obama's remark at the time.

More Obama "musts" I don't recall your mentioning:

"In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned."

"We must always reserve the right to strike unilaterally at terrorists wherever they may exist."

"And so we must realize that the freedoms FDR once spoke of - freedom from want and freedom from fear - do not just come from deposing a tyrant and handing out ballots; they are only realized once the personal and material security of a people is ensured as well."

"I took an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution as Commmander-in-Chief, and as a citizen [but not as CiC, obvs] I know that we must never - ever - turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake."

"And where terrorists offer only the injustice of disorder and destruction, America must demonstrate that our values and institutions are more resilient than a hateful ideology."

"The non-violence practiced by men like Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every circumstance, but the love that they preached - their fundamental faith in human progress - that must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey."

"To overcome extremism, we must also be vigilant in upholding the values our troops defend - because there is no force in the world more powerful than the example of America."

"I believe in keeping guns out of our inner cities, and that our leaders must say so in the face of the gun manfuacturers' lobby."

"My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction. And we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service.

"America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class."

I'd be surprised if he gets out early with good time or parole. Sex offenders aren't normally paroled or let out early for any reason. No one wants to be held responsible for letting a skinner out early to offend again.

The judicial system, in it's infinite wisdom, let some pervert out early in C'lumbus. Put an ankle bracelet on the POS. They were therefore able to conclude, after the fact, that yes he was the perp who raped and killed some young OSU coed.

The professor had tweeted “To save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and higher the better” and “Justice = The execution of two Republicans for each deported immigrant,” among other remarks. After the election, Maischak argued to his students that Trump could be executed, like past fascist leaders, but told Politico that “it got students who voted for Trump very angry.” After being kicked off-campus, however, Maischak reports that his students mostly supported him.

That's one musty argument. You know, the one where you say you have to agree that all this stuff this politician said was wrong, because there was one thing that President said was wrong. Because, as you know, a lot depends on context.

Obama's comment that I took issue with came before a speech at the UN (that's aboout as official as it gets), and seemed aimed at justifying restrictions on the free speech rights of those who draw cartoons of Mohammed. The combination of context and content make that a disgrace.

The other "musts" -- what's the context? Gun control? Silly throat clearing in a big speech? Pablum for the masses? I don't know, nor much care. What bothered me about Obama's comment was the implicit speech supression advocacy, not his use of the word must.

I think Fox is pretty nervous about losoing those eyeballs for NFL games. Not only have they dragged this guy out to pontificate, but they also did interviews with fans which I suspect was highly edited to give the impression most fans didn't care about the kneeling.

What bothered me about Obama's comment was the implicit speech supression advocacy, not his use of the word must.

If you had ever mentioned on this blog prior to today that you were bothered by Obama's UN comment, or by any of his administration's other attacks on the first amendment (cake baking anyone? Journalist prosecutions? Hmm?), I might believe you.

I agree wholeheartedly with RG's 11:10. This whole kneeling for the anthem thing went on all last year (when Obama was still president remember, Appalled?) as a protest against the police, which never made much sense since the national anthem has never been linked in the public's mind to their local police forces.

What Trump just did was take a page out of the Left's playbook. He took that protest of the police (does the guy in the street remember anymore that that was the start of it?) and turned it into a protest against not the police but against the anthem itself, and then he conflated the anthem protest into a protest against the flag, the military, and America itself. And then he baited the MSM/Dems into what he knew would be their knee-jerk reaction--into supporting a protest against America.

Now the Left has found themselves caught in a dilemma with no upside. They either have to continue their support of the anti-America protesters and kiss good-bye all those lofty plans on how they were going to win back the working class vote. Or they can denounce the protesters and piss off the one voting block they absolutely cannot afford to lose if they ever hope to win another election.

Yes, what Trump is doing is cynical and ruthless, (and just the thing the Left used to be so good as doing against us). It's how they've managed to win so much ground in the Culture War. But this time their tactics were used against them, and it is going to cost them bigly.

I have complained about Obama's anti-free speech urges, beginning with the war against Fox News in his 1st term. Whether I commented on his speech in 2012 -- I am not sure. I did complain about his you tube guy scapegating after Benghazi, aand the idea that anti-Muslim voices should be surpressed because, terrorism.

Not going to search the archives, though. You can take my word, or believe what you want to believe.

CBS: "Weiner sent adult porn to the girl and got her to take her clothes off for him on Skype. ... Meanwhile, defense lawyers for Weiner had portrayed the girl as an aggressor, saying she wanted to generate material for a book and possibly influence the presidential election."

Steve Kerr, whom I used to like, must feel that he has to make an ass out of himself to defend Steph Curry, who needs to lose that fake street accent to disguise the fact that as the son of an NBA player he grew up in the lap of luxury and isn't fooling a damn person except his asshole fanbase. Keep it up, clowns; I can free up even more spare time.

Let me make it clear to those dense cockwipes: when you insult me you aren't entertaining me. Good luck catering to the deadbeats.

All these years I've been critical of the AAs for allowing themselves to be used and abused by willingly staying on the Democtrat Party's plantation, giving that party their vote election after election and getting little in return. But the one thing Trump's candidacy and subsequent election has show me is that I've been just as a big a fool when it came to the GOP.

The NFL’s run of terrible press is over — when President Trump attacked the league Friday night in Alabama, 99.99 percent of the alt-left media reflexively fell into line in defense of a sport they were denouncing as barbaric as late as Friday afternoon.

You know that torrent of negative news the fellow travelers has been spewing out about pro football — the epidemics of CTE and spousal abuse, the league’s plummeting TV ratings, the half-empty stadiums in California, the $6 tickets going begging, etc., etc.?

Now that Trump has slammed the NFL, it is once again ... America’s Pastime!

Deb, I admit when I first saw Trump's tweets, I was all what the hell are you doing, man?

But then after it unfolded, it became obvious to me. And if the Left doesn't get a grip on the situation soon, it's going to escalate into some idiot burning a flag on the fifty yard line, and then they're going to find themselves being forced to defend the indefensible. And they will have to, because it started out as a race thing, and race will always have to trump all with them, even when it is political suicide to do so.

Brush stroke by brush stroke Trump is painting the Left into a corner from which it will be hard to escape from. First forcing them to champion violent black-hooded wanna-be ninja warriors and now forcing them to defend stupid protests against America herself.

He's doing the same thing to the GOPe using other tools, but with the same effect.

My USNA QB (before Staubach) is a rabid Stoolers fan but also former Naval pilot and he sent me the article in the Pittsburgh Tribune how Villanueva single handedly showed Tomlin for the idiot he is. As my friend said, "they should have fired him last year when they had the chance."